The present invention relates to a new, extra-mild shower gel and hair shampoo formulation having a low tenside concentration.
The production amount for shower baths and hair shampoos in the cosmetics industry in Germany is, at the present moment, about 110,000 tons per year. The amount of tenside in commercially available products ranges from 15 to 25 weight %. Consequently, about 20,000 tons of tensides per year enter the waste water system where they are broken down more or less quickly and completely. A reduction of the wash-active substances is an object worth striving for not only from an economic but also from an ecological point of view.
It is known that in ether sulphate-containing formulations, due to their strong foam formation, a drastic reduction of the wash-active substances from, for example, 20% to 10% and below is possible and the accompanying decrease of viscosity can be compensated for by the addition of electrolytes, for example, sodium chloride and sodium sulphate, which load the waste water. The resulting salt loading exceeds the tenside concentration which, on the one hand, clearly increases the risk of eye burning and, on the other hand, also clearly increases the shower gel or hair shampoo's instability, i.e., the salting-out effect. Independent of this drawback, ether sulphate-containing tensides include pharmacologically hazardous dioxane in trace amounts.
Known ether sulphate-free tenside systems cannot be thickened sufficiently in the case of low tenside concentrations of 10% and below by the addition of electrolytes. Therefore, these systems require additional thickeners which have a negative effect on the properties of the products (foam structure, conditioning and the like) and increase the costs. Accordingly, it generally can be said that ether sulphate-free tenside combinations do not possess a sufficient thickening ability despite the salt loading and have weak foaming properties.